Stuart Broad warns his weary team-mates

Tuesday 8 February 2011 12:04 BST

As England's weary cricketers prepare to embark upon their World Cup campaign, Stuart Broad today warns them that the competition in Asia will test their mental and physical strength more than any other challenge in the game.

Andrew Strauss and his team flew back to England today, just four days before many of them will leave the country again for Bangladesh, where their first warm-up game for the World Cup takes place against Canada on 16 February.

The length of England's injury list - Eoin Morgan, Graeme Swann, Tim Bresnan, Ajmal Shahzad and Paul Collingwood all approach the tournament with their fitness in doubt - tells the tale of a tour of Australia that has placed a huge strain on the squad.

A schedule comprising five Tests, eight one-day games, two Twenty20 matches and four first-class fixtures in a little over three months would test any group of players. Yet Broad, who has not played for England since sustaining an abdominal injury during the Second Test in Adelaide early in December, believes life is about to become even tougher.

"When you're playing 50-over cricket, you walk off at the end of the game feeling more tired than you do playing any form of international cricket," said Broad. "It's three-and-a- half hours of running around, bowling and fielding. And then you have to go out to bat.

"So it is as mentally and physically demanding as you'd expect international cricket to be, but it's all jam-packed into one day. In Test cricket, you have two-hour slots and then you can refresh yourself and start again, but you just don't have that opportunity in one-day internationals.

"Three-and-a-half hours in the baking sunshine, going non-stop, is pretty tiring. You have to take into account over allowances and over rates, so you're running around like a headless chicken to get through the overs.

"It's true that after a five-day Test you're absolutely shattered but 50-over cricket is so intense."

Broad's verdict does not bode well for an England side who have so little time for recuperation, but at least the 24-year-old should be more sprightly than most of his colleagues.

Broad is making an excellent recovery from his injury. The Nottinghamshire man is bowling at almost 100 per cent again in the nets and England's chances of success in Asia will be enhanced considerably by his return.

Much of the post-Ashes optimism about England's World Cup prospects has ebbed away with every defeat in Australia. An apparent lack of a clear plan, combined with some ordinary batting and bowling, has engendered pessimism among the fans.

But Broad is convinced England are ready to cause a surprise. He cites last year's ICC World Twenty20 in the Caribbean, which England won, and the side's desire to continue to "create history" after a hugely fruitful 12 months, as reasons to be cheerful.

"Having won that Twenty20 World Cup, we know we can win those events," Broad said. "And having won the Ashes series we know we can win under pressure. If we could win the World Cup, it would be comparable to winning the Ashes in Australia.

"England have never won in the 50-over format, so it's something we're hunting as vigorously as we would for an Ashes series. This team is doing very well at creating history and we want to do that in the next couple of months as well. Three major trophies in a year would be an incredible achievement.

"It's exciting at the moment because in the past couple of years England have some real success: winning two Ashes series, getting to the semi-finals of a Champions Trophy and, more importantly, getting over that hurdle of winning an ICC global event.

"In one-day cricket, we've beaten Australia and Pakistan in England and South Africa away. If we can put those kinds of performances together in a World Cup, there's no reason why we can't gain some real momentum and go on to great things.

"There has been a huge amount of cricket, and the injuries prove that, but there's no doubt we'll have a lot of those players fit and firing for the World Cup. We have the players to do some real damage in this tournament."

A self-assured man, Broad will count himself among that number, especially as he has unfinished business to take care of after missing the final three Ashes Tests.

Broad led the attack on England's tour of Bangladesh last winter and has played in five one-day internationals in India and five in Sri Lanka, so he has a good idea of what is required in the subcontinent.

England have missed Broad's bowling in the one-dayers and it is to be hoped his recovery is complete when the World Cup begins.

"I'm really close to being able to bowl at full pace and now it's about making sure I practise all my yorkers and slower balls and ensure I can step into that first warm-up game and have no problems," he explained. "I'm desperate to play again. It has been a huge amount of time away from the game and I'm very eager and keen to bring energy back to the group."